By Aysu Bicer
LONDON (AA) - Police in Northern Ireland removed a series of anti-immigration posters near the capital after what has been described as an unacceptable delay in their removal.
The posters in Newtownabbey, just north of Belfast, which threatened those "facilitating the settlement of Muslims or illegals" in the area, were put up in early August, sparking outrage, with many calling them a hate crime.
Infrastructure Minister John O'Dowd wrote to Chief Constable Jon Boutcher earlier this month requesting that the police step in to remove the offensive material.
The Department for Infrastructure had been initially tasked with the removal, but police officials said it took "far too long" for the department to act.
Assistant Chief Constable Bobby Singleton expressed frustration at the slow pace of the removal process, saying the police had engaged with department since the beginning of August but ultimately felt compelled to intervene.
Most of the posters have now been taken down, though some remain on lampposts. Singleton acknowledged the difficulty in determining the legality of certain posters, saying fighting hate speech must be balanced with considerations of freedom of speech.
"I don’t consider them as acceptable, but whether they are criminal is another assessment again," Singleton told BBC Radio Ulster.
He said that while the removed posters had been placed at “waist and head height” on lampposts, which justified police intervention, determining criminality in other cases could be more complex.
This incident has raised concerns about the timeliness of removing offensive material from public spaces and the coordination between government departments and police.
“We need to learn from this,” said Singleton about the slow process.